Category: issues

“At the simplest level, routine details such as the time, place and duration of rare piano recitals or art openings are shrouded in mystery for security’s sake. In a town almost comprehensively segregated into sectarian areas, where one man’s performance is another’s blasphemy, such information is intelligence hard to come by.”

Forty-five years ago “it was the age of random music, random painting, and William Burroughs added random writing. The idea was to elude the mind’s inner censor, cast off the shackles of the protective ego, soar through the empyrean of imagination, and produce – art! It was fun, a treat for everybody except maybe the audience.”

There’s a move internationally to create a new test measuring the academic achievement of 15-year-olds. Strangely, the US, which has lately been on a standardized-test spree, there is indifference to the idea.

“The neglect of Iraq’s modern artistic production – wrapped up in the campaign to destroy any remnants of the Baathi regime, and therefore Iraq’s collective memory” has been extreme.

“British Asians today still don’t get the arts, and don’t want to either. Got better things to do. They push their young people into real jobs that bring in big bucks, or at least good brides from families with big bucks. A painter, novelist, playwright, actor, cannot be admitted into respectable or wealthy dynasties – unless, of course, there is evidence of stardom.”

“In a move designed to fill empty seats on the ground floor — and to fill coffers — both the Orlando Opera Company and the Orlando Ballet are discouraging next season’s subscribers from buying seats in [their theatre’s] balcony and trying instead to sell them mostly more expensive seats downstairs.” Not all of their fans are happy.

“This idea that all artists are essentially humanists is a comforting myth for an agnostic age. There is little evidence to support it. It is, if you like, the agnostic’s delusion – because the very opposite is true. The greatest artists, from Matthias Grünewald in the 15th century to Benjamin Britten in the 20th, had a genuine Christian faith.”

“Someone has to figure out the technological trickery that creates the sort of staggering stage magic for which Vegas is famous. And UNLV is taking the lead, inaugurating a multidisciplinary program merging engineering technical expertise with the creative instincts of the fine arts — with the priceless advantage of access to the largest laboratory in the world, the Las Vegas Strip.”

“The Web is awash with fan-produced material that could be the subject of a copyright fight, from remixed pop songs, to new fiction based on existing characters from books and TV shows, to countless tribute videos cut together with clips from TV shows or films. And, for the most part, the big media companies that own the material being mashed up and manipulated let it slide. There are simply too many offenders to chase.”

“The 100 artists, actors, writers, musicians, festival directors, academics, architects and designers also called on the Government to establish a national endowment fund for the arts. The fund would include public endowment money and private philanthropy and patronage to provide artists’ support, including loans and grants.”